Steam Controller

Today’s Steam Client Beta includes the option to add Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) functionality to your Steam Controller. This feature will be required to enjoy the upcoming Steam Link app, but you may find it handy for other reasons, too. I’d like to describe what this BLE connection can and cannot do compared to the existing wireless solution, steps to update your controller to add BLE support, and how to switch between wireless modes once the update is installed.

When is it a good idea to use Bluetooth?

You definitely want to use the BLE connection when

Streaming games to your iOS and Android devices with the Steam Link app.

Connecting your Steam Controller to a tablet or laptop without a USB port.

You just can't find your Steam Controller Wireless Receiver.

Otherwise we suggesting sticking with the original protocol. It provides the fastest connection, with low-latency support for up to four controllers per receiver, and works across all major operating systems. The BLE connection is excellent, but the native wireless protocol was designed from the ground up to provide the best experience for a Steam Controller.

How do I get this firmware?

First opt into the latest Steam Client Beta. After that, connect your Steam Controller and this popup will appear:

Click 'Update firmware now' to begin the process. That should take care of it, but we also have these step-by-step instructions to help you out.

WARNING: This update clears all pairings, so you are required to reconnect the Wireless Receiver to your controller.

How do I switch between modes?

This update adds Bluetooth support; the original wireless mode is still available. If you have successfully paired to your Wireless Receiver and connected to your device over BLE, your Steam Controller is capable of switching between these modes.

Power up in original wireless mode with:

Power up in BLE mode with:

The controller will remember the last mode that was used, so you only need these button combinations when switching modes.

Thank you for testing out this new feature. More information on this firmware update is available here. As always, please share your feedback and let us know if you run into any trouble.

Greetings from the Steam Controller team. We’re pleased to announce that the latest Steam Client Beta adds support for the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller. We think it is a great device with a feature set that pairs nicely with your Steam catalog. The d-pad is ideal for fighting games and platformers and the gyro enhances aim in your action/FPS titles. If you’d like to test it out you will need to opt into the Steam Client Beta then follow the steps below. We hope you enjoy and, as always, we welcome your feedback.

How do I get started?First, opt into the Steam Client Beta then enable support globally by checking the ‘Nintendo Switch Configuration Support’ option in the Controller Settings page. In case you missed it, this is the same page to enable PS4 and Xbox Configuration support. By checking this box, you are able to create, share, and browse Switch Pro Controller configs on a per-game basis. The Controller Settings page also contains a global option to ‘Use Nintendo Button Layout’. This will swap the A/B and X/Y buttons of your loaded config – something that will come in handy if you choose a Steam Controller, Xbox, or standard template config.

Next, connect your controller and register it to your account when prompted. For best results with the gyro, we suggest initially calibrating your controller by selecting the 'Calibrate' option under 'Detected Controllers'.

After that, create a config (or load an existing config), via the ‘Controller Configuration’ option in the Manage Game screen for the title you are playing. The full functionality of the Steam Input Configurator is at your disposal: bind the gyro, add radial menus, create action sets, etc. If you prefer to start from a community config, press X and browse the options.

Finally, launch and play your Steam game with your Switch Pro Controller. Bring up the overlay with the ‘Home’ button to tweak your config on the fly. Please let us know if you encounter any issues.

Hey ho, chart fans, let’s go. Statman John is indisposed today, and was last seen meandering along the seafront muttering “Plunkbat! They give me Plunkbat! I’ve a grand idea for a grand theft five five fi-diddly-fi fi whoopsadaisy down we go,” so I’m taking over for this week’s Steam charts. Seeing as he’s always griping about the charts being identical, I’m sure John will be infuriated to miss seeing how much Steam’s autumn sale changed things. Won’t you join for me a stroll down the hit parade? (more…)

The Steam Controller team has been hard at work adding new functionality to the community controller configuration browser. These features are currently available to try out in the Steam Beta and will be making their way into the full Steam client soon. As always we're interested in your feedback.

Previewing community configs before applying them makes it easy to browse the community before committing to a selection. Also helpful for finding features to add to your own configs.

Easy sharing of configurations – copy a link to personal or community bindings to your clipboard and share it with others. Clicking the link will load the config directly into the Steam previewer.

You can now upvote your favorite configurations.

The community config list shows the number of upvotes and total recent playtime for each configuration.

There are new ways to sort the community configurations: by recent use time or total upvotes.

Also, be sure to check out the weekend deal on the Steam Controller and Steam Link which runs from now till Monday Feb 27th, 10am PST.

It’s time for the annual Steam Autumn Sale, and now it’s easier than ever to find games that play great with the Steam Controller.

We’ve created a new Steam Controller Hub page that will be continuously updated with the most popular Steam Controller Games. The Hub is also the go-to place to find which Controller-friendly games are on sale.

A new mode of USB/Bluetooth communication is now used by the Steam client on Linux to facilitate In-Home Streaming of controler functionality, so you'll want to update your udev rules accordingly. See updated set of rules in the platform support thread:

Today's Steam Client Beta includes a set of features centered around two new configurations available for the controller.

First, the ability to reconfigure the controller for Steam itself is an often requested feature. The new Big Picture Configuration allows users to do just that. Inputs can be rearranged or added in the various sections of Big Picture including the main interface, the web browser, and the on-screen keyboard. In addition, Big Picture can also now be navigated using a cursor based interface via the trackpads and gyro.

Second, there is a new configuration available globally - the Steam Button Chord configuration. This allows for a global, immediately accessible set of actions and hotkeys while holding the Steam Button. Existing On-Screen Keyboard and Screenshot combinations are included by default as well as mouse, alt-tab, magnifier, controller power-off, and media control functionality. This chording combination is available at any time, whether in Big Picture, in game, or on the desktop.

Like game profiles, these configurations can be saved and shared with the community.

In addition a variety of new controller actions such as controller and host power options, screen magnifier (where supported), and Steam Music bindings have been added as bindable functions available in all configurations.

We're continually listening to your feedback and looking to improve upon the Steam Controller. We welcome you feedback on what you like and what we could be doing better. Next up we'll be looking at how community configurations are ranked and presented to users so the best configurations for you are easier to find.

The latest Steam Beta Client update includes a new feature for the Steam Controller called Activators.

Activators sit between inputs (such as a button on the controller) and binding outputs (such as a keypress). They control how the input is turned into output and provide a number of settings to control this. Some simple examples are long press, double press, binding cycling, toggles, and delays.

There is no limit to the number of activators that can be placed on a single input, so a button can have a normal press, a long press, and a double tap on a single button, each firing off different actions in a game.

Each activator can have its own haptic settings as well.

Here's a few simple ways that activators can make your existing configurations better :

You can use a Start Press activator and a Release Press activator to turn a toggle crouch into a hold crouch. Conversely, the toggle option will allow you to turn any action, such as a hold crouch, into a toggle.

Turbo can be set on Activators, meaning any button can have customized rapid fire. This can be combined with multiple activators, so single press for single fire, while a long press will engage turbo mode.

Use a Start Press Activator to switch to a new action set, with a Release Press on the same button to switch back to the original set. Using this technique Action Sets can act like an entire-controller mode shift. Also included in this update is the ability to copy any existing Action Set into the new set, making customization a lot faster.

Mode Shifts now also use Activators, so a mode-shift can be toggled on and off without continuously holding a button.

Activators can also cycle through a set of bindings. Put Stand, Crouch, and Prone on a single button and cycle through them with each press.

This update also includes better visualizations for settings such as deadzones, with more coming soon.

Note that due to the nature of this change, configurations that are altered under the new setup are not backwards compatible, so modified configurations made in the beta client will not be visible to the stable client.